New Jersey TM Support Group
           
The New Jersey TM Support Group held its second meeting ever on November 2nd at the Robert Woods Johnson Hospital in Rahway, NJ.  We obtained access to a large and comfortable conference room through the efforts of one of our members, Janet Coughlin.  She is the head nurse at this facility. The attendance far exceeded my expectations.  We had eleven TM’rs and an equal number of family members.

We went around the room with each member telling their story, including their doctors, medications, when the onset occurred and how it was initially treated.  Each story was unique, yet each story had something that we all could relate to.  With just a couple of exceptions, I was amazed that most of the members had never previously met face to face with anyone sharing their condition. It was wonderful and emotional to realize that “we are not alone.”
           
I then proceeded to discuss places they could go to have their questions answered. Two of the resources mentioned were the TM Internet Club, and the videos posted on line by Jim Lubin from the last two symposia.  Finally, we agreed to make this a quarterly meeting and perhaps to try to discuss various topics at subsequent meetings.
           
It is very uplifting to see so many of us who share the same condition, yet all with unique difficulties.  All of the members I met had one thing in common ... TM did not define their lives. Yes, it makes all of our lives far more difficult, but perhaps it also teaches us how wonderful life can still be. I started the support group to try and help others and found that the person I helped most is me!
           
We truly are not alone!

Rob Pall in New Jersey
Robthecfo@aol.com